Vote Yes For Our Children

We write this letter to urge voters to vote YES in the Payson Unified School District Override election on May 18th. Your YES vote will help to ensure that our local children receive the same educational opportunities as those in many school districts throughout Arizona. Voters in other communities realized the unique challenges that today's public schools face and wisely approved override elections to guarantee that their school systems were not forced to choose between providing a well-rounded educational experience or merely the least expensive education effort possible.

Caring communities realize that adequately funding public schools in Arizona is a tremendous challenge that has required difficult choices for school administrators. We would like to see Payson's children learn an important curriculum in an environment of reasonable class sizes taught by dedicated and caring teachers. Our local schools have cut expenses to the bone and are at the point where additional budget cuts will put these reasonable goals out of reach. We have not yet seen any evidence that schools can do more and more with less and less and end up doing everything with nothing.

Payson is a caring community. We have seen that in the decades that we have lived here and seen our children progress through the Payson public schools and excel at the state universities. Payson is a very special place and is made so by the many elements of our community. Central to the quality of life for retirees and those still raising families is a great local school system, good medical facilities, a great environment and a responsive local government that provides services in a timely and efficient manner. Please adopt Payson as your "hometown" and make your important contribution to your community by voting YES on May 18th. Your support is needed and will make a difference in the lives of so many children that deserve the best that we can offer.